By Joel Wauters, UNI Athletics
The UNI men’s basketball team will spend its 2025 Thanksgiving week on the west coast as it was announced as part of the 2025 Acrisure Series field on Tuesday afternoon.
Northern Iowa will play two games on Nov. 25 and 26 at the Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, California in a pod that also includes the Nevada Wolfpack, Loyola-Chicago Ramblers and Tulsa Golden Hurricanes. Opening matchups, tip times and TV broadcasting information will be announced at a later date.
The event, which debuted in 2023 in southern California for both men’s and women’s teams in multiple pods, featured 11 men’s programs this season that went on to reach a national postseason tournament in 2025, including four NCAA qualifiers (Grand Canyon, Colorado State, Saint Mary’s, New Mexico), four NIT qualifiers (UNI, Stanford, SMU, Santa Clara) and three College Basketball Crown participants (Washington State, USC, Arizona State).
MEET THE TOURNAMENT FIELD
Nevada: The Wolfpack went 17-16 this season and 8-12 in the Mountain West Conference under sixth year head coach Steve Alford. UNI holds a 2-2 all-time record against Nevada and last met during the 2007-08 season, where the Wolfpack narrowly edged out the Panthers in a 55-52 win in the McLeod Center.
Loyola-Chicago: The Ramblers are currently competing in this year’s National Invitation Tournament (NIT) with a 24-11 record under fourth year head coach Drew Valentine. Northern Iowa is 12-15 all-time against its former Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) rival and have not met since the 2022 semifinal round of Arch Madness.
Tulsa: The Golden Hurricanes posted a 13-20 record and a 6-12 mark in the American Athletic Conference under third year head coach Eric Konkol. Another former MVC opponent from the early 1990s, UNI holds a 3-8 record against Tulsa and could potentially meet for the first time in 30 years at the Acrisure Series.
Tickets for the 2025 Acrisure Series, along with additional dates and opponents for the 2025-26 season will be announced at a later date.